Naruto: Hour Of Darkness
by Worldwalker Pure
Summary: The great Overlord, Laharl, is looking for his wayward subject, the Kyuubi. A Disgaea crossover taking place during the chuunin exam.
1. Prolog

**Naruto: Hour of Darkness**

Battle history in the ninja world 

Prolog: The Deciding Factor

Four figures stood around a table, looking down on a map. One had blue hair in an amazingly unlikely style, the second was a scantly clad redhead, the third was a cheerful-looking blonde girl, and the fourth was…a penguin.

The Overlord of the Netherworld, the great king Laharl, looked at the area circled on the map. "So this is where he ran off to?"

Etna nodded. "Yep. The information gathered by the Prinny Squad indicates he was last seen here…twelve years ago, it looks like. Since then, nothing."

Flonne tilted her head to the side, her red ribbon swaying gently. "Laharl? Why are you going after him, anyway? He left a long time ago, right?"

The antennaes of Laharl's blue hair stiffened as he said "I'M THE OVERLORD! I won't have a single subject fail to realize that!"

The head spy of Etna's Prinny Squad spoke up. "So what's the plan for getting him back, dood?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Laharl said. "We show up and demand they turn him over, of course!"

Etna sighed. "Somehow, I think it's gonna be a little harder than that to find the Kyuubi, Laharl."

Laharl grunted. "Fine. YOU think up the plan, then. But you better hurry! We leave for Konoha in a week!"

End Prolog


	2. Chapter 1

**Naruto: Hour of Darkness**

**Battle history in the ninja world **

Chapter One: Overlord's Arrival

It had been a good day.

Relatively few people had tried to get in, and none of them had been ninjas. There were times Masahiro loved gate duty. The Eastern Gate got most of the civilian traffic into and out of Konoha, so Masahiro got to meet a lot of tourists, and he often got a heads-up on any influx of out-of-town jobs, which was always prime gossip fodder. Yes, he could safely say that today had been shaping up to be pretty good.

Then the flying castle had appeared. Masahiro didn't even want to _think_ about how much chakra it would take to make something like that. And as if a _giant flying castle_ wasn't bad enough, people had come out of it.

Well. If the term fit, anyway. They were shaped like people, certainly. But so was that Uzumaki kid, and everyone knew _he_ was a demon.

Masahiro _really_ didn't want to be known as the guy who had let demons inside Konoha. On the other hand, he also didn't want to be remembered as the first casualty in a second demon attack.

So he had sent for the ANBU. When in doubt, delegate. One of the white-masked shinobi had already shown up.

The ANBU was regarding the trio of strangers coolly through the slits of his monkey mask. "Please state your business."

The shortest one, with the wildly improbable blue hairstyle, stepped forward when the redhead poked him in the back, her wings fluttering. "I am Laharl Krichevskoy, Tenkage of Those Hidden In The Sky. Tell your Hokage that we wish to enter into an alliance."

And it had been shaping up to be such a _nice _day, too…

* * *

Several hours later, Laharl and the Sandaime were finishing up their conference. 

"And as a gesture of good will, allow us to participate in your upcoming Chuunin Exam. We have some promising genin that we believe are ready for promotion," said Laharl.

The Hokage nodded. "I'll send a chuunin with the paperwork. I look forward to seeing this alliance flourish."

The two of them shook hands before Laharl left the room. In the waiting room outside, Etna was leaning against one wall, her tail twitching idly while Flonne sat patiently in one of the chairs. As Laharl entered, Etna threw him a casual wave and Flonne looked up at him, her large red eyes shining with hope.

"Follow me," commanded Laharl, "We have to decide who to send to the chuunin exam."

Flonne _cheered_.

* * *

Flonne was muttering under her breath. "Nin nin♥!" 

Laharl and Etna mostly managed to ignore her while they were working out the specifics. "Alright. You and Flonne can be team leaders."

"Nin nin♥!"

Etna smirked, her tail briefly forming a circle behind her. "Cool. Any restrictions?"

"Nin nin♥!"

Laharl nodded, "They can't be any of the main guard, and they have to be able to pass for humans. It's probably best if you don't take anyone that's passed the Senate's fourth exam, alright?"

"Nin nin♥!"

Etna nodded, her ponytails swaying, "I have just the people for the job, too!"

"Nin nin♥!"

One of Etna's eyebrows twitched. Reaching out one arm, she gently tapped Flonne on the shoulder.

The fallen angel cast an inquisitive eye on her companion, asking "Nin?"

"STOP DOING THAT, FLOWER HEAD!"

Flonne cowered back, holding her hands up protectively. "Sorry…"

Laharl smirked. "It's three weeks until the exam. Explore the town, and try to keep an eye out for the Kyuubi."

Flonne saluted. "Nin nin♥!"

* * *

Naruto was happy. It had only been a week since Team Seven had gotten back from Wave Country, and he still had a nice windfall from the unexpected S-Rank mission. Even after bills, he could still afford ramen at the Ichiraku!

"Ah! Flonne-sensei, let's ask him!"

Naruto glanced up at this declaration to see a blonde girl pointing at him. Her hair was done up in curls, she was wearing a strange sort of bell-shaped dress, and she had a freakin' HUGE longbow strapped to her back. Draped around her neck was what looked like a forehead protector with an emblem of a wing carved on it. A quizzical look on his face, Naruto pointed to himself.

A young blonde girl in a white and red outfit rushed up to him, beaming widely. Wrapped around her forehead was a protector with the same wing emblem as the other blondes. "Ah! Hello!" She exclaimed brightly. "I'm Flonne, from the Hidden Sky! What's your name?"

Naruto blinked once before he pasted on a foxy grin. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Pleased to meet ya!"

The girl bowed, her red ribbon swaying. "Likewise, Naruto-kun!" Straightening up, she smiled cheerfully at him, wide red eyes shining. "Could I ask a favor?"

Naruto was slightly surprised – were foreign ninjas _supposed_ to be this open? Cautiously, he nodded.

Flonne clapped her hands together and said, "My team is in town for the upcoming chuunin exam. We just got in yesterday morning and we don't know where anything is yet. Since you're a ninja, can you give us directions to a training ground, please?"

Naruto smiled, all gleaming white teeth and whisker-marks stretching over his cheeks. "Sure thing! Just follow me!"

With that, he channeled chakra to his legs and took off onto what was often referred to as 'the ninja's roadway' – the roofs of the city.

Flonne signaled to her students to follow as she leapt into the air. The three pupils tensed their legs and leaped onto the rooftops, following after the orange-clad ninja. Flonne, who had reached the apex of her jump, flexed her wings and beat them downwards, sending her further into the air. Ignoring the effect the downdraft from her wings had on the crowded street below, Flonne quickly flew off after Naruto.

Naruto and the three foreign ninjas soon arrived at Training Ground Five, the spiky-haired blonde touching down only moments before the three foreigners. Naruto looked around, slightly puzzled. "Eh? Where's Flonne-san?"

The girl with the bow looked up and started counting softly, "Three…two…one…zero!"

As she reached zero, there was a powerful gust of wind from above that flattened the grass and ruffled Naruto's hair. As he watched, wide-eyed, Flonne lightly set down, her tiny red wings flapping lazily. She looked over the training ground, and then nodded once, smiling. "Thank you, Naruto-kun! This looks excellent!"

"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?"

Flonne blinked, placing one finger against her chin as she stared at Naruto with wide eyes. "…Do what?"

Naruto jabbed wildly at her with a finger, shouting, "No matter how you look at it, you FLEW! You were definitely flying!"

Flonne blinked a couple of times before a look of comprehension passed over her face. Smacking one fist into her palm, she said, "Oh, that! It's an Advanced Bloodline."

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he nodded. "Oh! Okay." Peering around, he noticed the other three ninjas were watching him and Flonne with something close to bemusement. "Say, shouldn't you guys have a jounin sensei or something?"

All four of the Sky ninjas blinked at that. Flonne regarded him quizzically as she said, "That's me, Naruto-kun."

"WHAT!" shrieked Naruto.

Flonne blinked. Were all ninja this excitable?

* * *

Sakura was busy. Today was the first day she had to herself since getting back from Wave Country, between the mission report and debriefing, and assuring her mother that she was _fine_, mama, really, and gloating to Lily-neechan about successfully completing an S ranked mission when _she _hadn't been on anything higher than a B ranked mission since she made chuunin, and entertaining Rose-imouto with demonstrations of the tree-walking jutsu she had learned.

Sakura loved her family, she really did, but sometimes she got tired of being the middle daughter. She was grateful all three of them took after Papa, however. However much she loved Mama – and she did, she did! – the mission to Wave Country had made he realize how _much_ she wanted to be a ninja.

Not a homemaker. _Definitely_ not a homemaker.

Half of the surplus from the mission had been given to Mama to help pay the bills, but the rest were going towards rebuilding her stocks of trap kits, kunai, and explosive tags. Lily-neechan's favorite store was having a sale today, and Sakura had begged off of training for the day to take advantage. Kakashi-sensei hadn't seemed to mind, after she had explained what it was a sale _on_.

Although it was a little insulting that he had asked what kind of shoes she was planning on buying. It wasn't like she was a _civilian_, after all!

The bell on the shop door jingled cheerily overhead as she pushed it open. Taking a deep breath, Sakura scanned the store, seeking out the kunai. First things first, after all.

The kunai were neatly shelved on a rack on the left side of the store, and there was already someone browsing through them. Sakura stopped what she was doing and stared.

The stranger had bright red hair pulled back in a pair of ponytails, and was clad in a leather miniskirt and tube top with thigh-high leather boots and long, elbow-length gloves. It wasn't the girl's choice of clothing that surprised Sakura, though. No, that honor would go to the small pair of red, bat-like wings sprouting from her shoulder blades and the long, pointed tail that poked out from under the hem of her skirt.

Sakura gave herself a mental shake. All things considered, it really wasn't any weirder than Kakashi-sensei's Sharingan, was it? Just another advanced bloodline, right? With the way she was displaying it so openly, it had to be natural, and they wouldn't have allowed her in the village if she was dangerous.

At least, Sakura _hoped_ so.

Coming to a decision, Sakura walked towards the kunai. Standing next to the strange girl, she said, "Hello?"

The girl glanced up, and Sakura was startled to see her eyes were a bright crimson color – it looked like a natural crimson, too. The stranger smiled at her, all gleaming teeth with just a hint of fang to it. "Oh! Hey. You wanna look at the knives, too, huh?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah, my sister said they were having a sale, so I wanted to stock up. My name's Sakura. What's yours?"

The girl nodded at her and said, "I'm Etna."

Sakura glanced down at Etna's throat, noting what she had first taken for a collar was actually a forehead protector with a small wing engraved on it.

"…I don't recognize that symbol. What village are you from?"

Etna smirked and said, "I'm not surprised. We haven't had an outpost on this continent for decades now. I'm a jounin from the Hidden Sky."

Half an hour later, Sakura and Etna were chatting comfortably over a light snack of tea and dango.

"…And he wouldn't back off, so I kicked him right in the goalpost!" Etna said cheerfully.

Etna _liked_ Sakura. The human had a real vicious streak in her. Currently, the pink-haired girl was laughing at the story Etna had just finished, which was a much better reaction than she had ever gotten from Flonne.

Behind them, someone screamed. Whipping around, Sakura was confronted with a sight she was completely unprepared for.

It was at least six feet tall, with green skin and an orange mohawk. A foul stench was rolling off it in waves, and from what Sakura could see, every major organ between the bottom of its all-too-visible ribcage and its waist had rotted away, leaving a gaping hole where living people would have a stomach. It was also clutching a piece of paper in one hand.

Next to her, she heard Etna mutter, "I swear, the damn flower head hasn't got an ounce of common sense." Noticing Sakura going for a kunai, Etna waved her off. "Relax, I can handle this."

By this time, the thing was only two feet away and was making no further movements. Etna casually pushed Sakura back, walking up to the zombie and asking, "Well?"

In a remarkably smooth voice for something so disgusting, it said, "Mistress Flonne has found a suitable training ground, Etna-san. She sent me to deliver a map."

"Yeah, yeah," Etna grumbled, snatching the paper away, "You can go back now, alright?"

The zombie nodded gravely and disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Etna muttered to herself. Damn flower head didn't even stop to think that using a zombie as a messenger might cause a stir. She really had changed a lot since she had come to the Netherworld.

Turning around, she flashed Sakura a cheery grin. "Well, looks like I've gotta get my team. My partner seems to have found a training area we can use." Tilting her head to the side, she continued, "Wanna come with? I can explain on the way."

Sakura nodded.

_To be continued…_

_**Next Episode…**_

_Sakura: What is the secret of this mysterious pink-haired girl?_

_Laharl: Now you've got humans doing it, too?_

_Etna: Shh! I wanna hear!_

_Sakura: Appearing out of nowhere in a flash! A warrior of love and justice!_

_Laharl: GAH! Don't say such optimistic things!_

_Sakura: Can she defeat the legendary demon, Kyuubi no Kitsune?_

_Sakura: Tune in next time for Magical Ninja Lovely Sakura: Episode Two! A Legend Is Born!_

_Etna: Oh, she's good._

_Laharl: There's TWO of them now!_

Notes: It's been about two weeks since the prolog, fic-time. Laharl delayed setting out long enough that they could get comfortable with the roles they had to play at Konoha. This chapter sets the stage. Chapter two will have some action in it, so don't worry. There will be cool ninja battles. Sakura's sisters will not be a large part of the fic, it's just something I thought was a cool idea. There will be a couple of Haruno family bonding scenes, but it's not going to be the focus of the fic.


	3. Chapter 2

**Naruto: Hour Of Darkness**

**Battle History in the Ninja World**

**Chapter Two: The Mysterious New Ninja**

"I'm really sorry about that, Sakura-chan. Flonne doesn't always think about the consequences of her actions," Etna said.

Next to her, Sakura nodded. The two of them were taking the ninja highway back to Etna's hotel, where she would pick up her genin team. Sakura was an average ninja at best, but this was something even average ninja could do.

"What do you know about summoning contracts?" asked Etna.

Sakura paused a moment to reflect before answering, "When a contract is signed, a ninja can make an offering of blood and chakra to call a spirit ally into the real world, cloaking it in flesh. A contract can be forged between a summoner and several specific spirits, or it can be between a summoner and an entire spirit court."

Etna's eyes widened, and she grinned appreciatively. "Heh. You're pretty smart for a genin!"

It's hard to sound modest when you're making thirty-foot leaps between buildings and the slightest misstep will send you falling far enough to break limbs, but Sakura managed it anyway. "Oh, well, it's not really a big deal, honestly…"

Etna let that pass in favor of continuing her explanation. "Flonne has a contract with the entire spirit court of zombies. She doesn't really understand that normal people find them hideous and terrifying, because she sees them as noble warriors that fight against death."

Etna ignored Sakura's baffled expression and looked around, spotting her hotel just across the street. Landing on a small building, she waved at Sakura to follow her. Etna jumped down, her wings fluttering to slow her descent. Looking up, she noted that Sakura, instead of jumping, was walking down the side of the building.

As Sakura jumped off the last few feet, Etna finished her explanation. "I'm not particularly afraid of them either, because I grew up surrounded by the things. But at least I'm capable of realizing other people don't share my tastes, you know?"

With some effort, Sakura managed to find words to express herself. "This Flonne person sounds like a very unique individual!"

Etna barked out a short, sharp laugh. "You mean her head is full of flowers. Don't bother mincing words with _me_, Sakura-chan. Now follow me! We're going to go wake up those lazy genins of mine!"

* * *

High above Konoha, the Overlord Laharl brooded in the center of his flying castle.

Laharl was _not_ happy. This whole thing had started as a way of bringing a notorious demon into his service. Then, that…_person_ had shown up and now everything was way too complicated.

He had to be polite to a _human_, of all things!

Eyes narrowing, he came to a decision. "ARASHI! GET IN HERE!" he bellowed.

Sitting back impatiently, he slumped lower in his throne while listening intently for the clatter of tiny legs that would announce his new vassal's arrival.

"You called, King Laharl?" came from behind him.

Laharl jumped. "AHH!" Turning around, he saw Arashi stepping out from behind his throne. "DAMMIT, DON'T DO THAT!"

The prinny said nothing, choosing instead to simply stare at Laharl, the throne room's great fire pits reflecting red lights off of his bright yellow skin.

Laharl scowled at him. Prinnies weren't supposed to be that fast, dammit! Even the ones who retained their memories!

"It has to be done this way?" Laharl asked abruptly, with no sign of his inner indignation on his face.

Arashi abruptly seemed to deflate. "Actually, no. There's nothing stopping you from simply destroying the seal and tearing the Kyuubi out of its human vessel."

Laharl drew back, surprise evident on his face. "Then what was all that stuff you said about 'a certain order to events' and 'making alliances' for, then?"

The golden prinny seemed to fidget a bit before sighing deeply. Looking up at Laharl, he asked, "Please don't interrupt?"

Laharl nodded. "If it's so important to you, I suppose I can listen."

Arashi stilled for a moment, breathing deeply before he started talking. "The attack of the Kyuubi was the single most devastating defeat to have happened to the Leaf since the time of my father." Staring up at the Overlord, Arashi's eyes narrowed into a powerful glare. "For the events of my life, I was practically guaranteed an enjoyable afterlife in Celestia."

Arashi started pacing back and forth, his tiny prinny legs making tapping sounds against the floor. "Instead, I sold my soul to the God of Death and sealed the Kyuubi inside a newborn infant, condemning my soul to an afterlife spent as an explosive penguin."

Tilting his head to the side, the Fourth Hokage stared out at Laharl through the eyes of a prinny, every line of his body held upright with the sheer force of will that had him holding on to his memories even after death. "I refuse to have died for nothing. I will not allow my death to be rendered meaningless."

Laharl smirked. "I can respect that. Fine, we'll do it your way."

* * *

Etna and Sakura were just outside the room Etna had booked for her three students. Glancing back at Sakura, Etna placed one finger over her lips and winked.

Etna raised one thumb to her mouth and bit down with one of her fangs, piercing her skin. Making several hand seals, Etna slammed her bloody hand down on the floor, whispering, "Ninpo: Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

From beneath Etna's hand there came a puff of smoke that billowed upwards, revealing two bird-like creatures.

Sakura blinked. Were birds supposed to have fanny packs and bat wings? Even ninja summoning birds?

The birds drew themselves up, saluting sloppily. "Prinny Squad reporting for duty, dood!"

Etna grinned savagely. "We're gonna wake up my lazy students, alright?" Looking over her shoulder, she added, "Sakura, you pick up the other one, please."

Sakura blinked, then shrugged mentally and placed one of the Prinnies under her arm. Etna had already lifted up the other one and was in the process of unlocking the door.

"On the count of three, throw the Prinny inside the room. Try to aim for the center, all right?"

Sakura looked down at her burden. She was surprised to note that it looked resigned; as if this was something it had long since gotten used to.

By this point, Etna had already unlocked the door and was slowly opening it, counting under her breath. When she reached three, the door slammed against the wall as she cried out, "RISE AND SHINE, LITTLE ONES!"

With that, she and Sakura threw their burdens inside the room.

The prinnies exploded.

* * *

Naruto was happy. That strange jounin, Flonne, was really cool! Even if she was about his age and much higher ranked than he was. Her team was really nice, too. They were even letting him spar with them!

The blonde girl from before was practicing her archery with that freakin' huge bow. Her name was Kasumi, and she knew some pretty good tricks, too. Her teammates were named Motoko and Joutarou. Motoko was a melee weapon specialist and Joutarou knew a wide variety of ninjutsu.

But even if they were cool people, _man_, did they ever dress funny. Motoko wore a samurai's _hikama_ with giant ovals cut out over her thighs and wrapped bandages around her chest. Joutarou wore a pair of pants and a bizarre combination of skull mask and jester's cap. Kasumi's bell-shaped dress was the most normal piece of clothing there.

Right now, Flonne was showing Joutarou some of the subtleties of a _Hyouton_ jutsu he was practicing, and he was sparring with Motoko.

Speaking of which…Naruto quickly rolled to the side, dodging the overhead strike from Motoko's axe.

He grinned. "Nice!"

Motoko smiled back, full of teeth, saying, "Not bad yourself!"

Swinging the axe up, Motoko brought it around in a sideways slice that Naruto dodged by leaping over. While he was in the air, a quick hand seal brought forth five shadow clones, arrayed around him in a circle.

Naruto quickly sent three of the clones within Motoko's reach before she could bring her axe around again. The shades swarmed over Motoko, knocking her axe from her grip.

One of the clones tossed the axe far enough away that Motoko couldn't afford to take the time to retrieve it before Naruto and his two remaining duplicates charged forward.

The leading clone launched itself into a flying axe-kick, which Motoko caught on her crossed arms before the second clone charged in low with an uppercut that sent her tumbling away to land on her back.

Naruto, seeing the advantage, came barreling in with a flying kick aimed at her stomach. Motoko quickly placed her hands palm down on the ground above her head and launched herself up, somersaulting out of the way and skidding to a stop in a kenjutsu stance, holding a long sword in front of her defensively.

Naruto didn't let the sudden appearance of the new weapon faze him, choosing to summon up another batch of shadow clones and attack _en masse_. As the multiple shinobi closed in on her, Motoko _blurred_.

A massive cloud of smoke went up as the clones disappeared all at once, obscuring the two ninja. By this point, Flonne, Joutarou, and Kasumi had stopped practicing to watch the match. Before their eyes, the cloud thinned, revealing two figures locked in an eerie tableau.

Motoko had the edge of her sword against Naruto's throat. The blonde ninja, however, had the point of a _kunai_ against Motoko's eye. The two of them were smiling at each other, eyes bright. Naruto was bleeding from a cut under his eye, and Motoko's hair tie had snapped, letting her raven-wing hair fall loose down her back.

"Draw?" suggested Naruto, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Draw," agreed Motoko, her own voice none too steady.

The two of them let their weapons sag before the leaned against each other, laughing hysterically.

Joutarou swallowed behind his mask. "Naruto-san is as scary as Motoko-chan, huh?"

Kasumi nodded, her curls bouncing. "Combat freaks."

* * *

Naruto and Motoko still hadn't recovered and were slumped under a tree when Etna arrived with her Team Eight and Sakura in tow. The three Sky genin smelt faintly of smoke. Sakura glimpsed Naruto over by the tree and rushed over to her teammate.

"Hey, Flower Head. Who's the kid?" asked Etna, jerking one thumb towards Naruto.

Flonne smiled sunnily at her as she replied, "That's Naruto-san. He's the one that showed us this training ground!"

Etna arched one red eyebrow. "Really? Why's he looking so beat up?"

"He fought Motoko-chan to a draw!" Kasumi interrupted, clearly impressed with the Leaf genin.

At that, Etna turned around to get a closer look at the exhausted ninja, an impressed look on her face. "Really? Not bad!"

Naruto, meanwhile, was in the process of explaining everything to Sakura-chan. "And, and, that girl over there is a jounin!" he exclaimed, pointing at Flonne. "And she can FLY, I swear!"

Sakura's left eyebrow twitched. "Naaa…ruu…tooo…" she growled, raising one fist.

"ACK!" yelped Naruto, raising his arms over his head protectively. "W-what is it, Sakura-chan?"

"HOW DID YOU GET HURT!" Sakura exploded.

Naruto blinked at her. "I was sparring with Motoko-chan! She's really good!"

Motoko rolled her head to the side, looking at Naruto with a fond smile on her face. Balling up one hand, she lightly punched Naruto on the shoulder. "You're not so bad yourself, Naruto-kun."

The two of them grinned at each other for a few seconds before breaking into a fit of laughter. Sakura glanced between the two of them with a befuddled look on her face before throwing her hands up in exasperation and stalking off.

Etna's team flopped down next to Naruto and Motoko, causing Naruto to wrinkle his nose at the scent of smoke wafting off of them. One of them, a girl wearing only a pair of cargo shorts and a belt where her shirt should have been, casually waved at Motoko.

"Hey, Priss. Etna-san use the prinny wake up method again?" asked Motoko.

Priss nodded, sighing heavily. "Yeah. That pink girl helped out, too. Didn't know prinnies exploded, so we aren't holding it against her. _Are we_?" The last was hissed out between clenched teeth at her two teammates.

"No, Priss," they said in unison, sounding resigned. It was very obvious who the leader of the three was.

One of the genin was dressed in a form-fitting bodysuit, with her red hair drawn back in two short ponytails. The other was wearing a dress that was far too frilly to be effective, as well as being strangely maid-like.

Even for ninja, the Hidden Sky shinobi dressed weird.

* * *

"…So that's the current situation, Sasuke-kun," finished Sakura.

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "The chuunin exam, huh?" Inwardly, he smiled. Finally, a chance to test himself again!

Ever since the fight in Wave country, he had been chafing under the constant series of D-Rank missions. There were people out there that could challenge him, and he was stuck working with a fan girl and a dead last to catch _cats_. If a chuunin exam was coming up, there would probably be a lot of foreign nin coming to the Leaf. Kakashi probably wouldn't enter them, but it was highly likely that his newly developed Sharingan could pick up some new techniques from the foreigners anyway.

"Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura. "Are you alright? You kind of spaced out for a moment there."

"I'm fine," he answered brusquely, mentally shaking himself. Turning to Sakura, he began speaking. "I'm going to ask Kakashi-sensei for more training pretty soon. You should think about it, too."

Sakura blinked. "But…we aren't entering the chuunin exams."

Sasuke stared at her, his eyes dark. "So?" he asked coolly.

With that, he turned around and walked away, leaving Sakura standing dumbstruck behind him.

* * *

Sakura was sitting on a bench in the park, deep in thought.

Naruto and Sasuke were so strong; sometimes it felt like she was holding them back. Or, worse, that she wasn't, and they were so far ahead she'd never catch up.

She hated that. She _hated_ being weak.

A hand plopped down on her head, ruffling her hair. "Hey, kiddo! Why so glum?" asked a familiar voice.

"Aaa!" Sakura voiced, ducking out from under the hand. "Stop _doing_ that, Lily!"

Sakura's older sister adopted an exaggerated expression of consideration before saying, quite plainly, "No."

Hopping over the back of the bench, Lily ran a hand through her white hair and asked, "What's got you so down, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura stared down at her clenched fists, her mind boiling with the emotions behind her thoughts. She wanted to stop holding her teammates back. She wanted to get stronger.

Staring up at her sister, she said, "Please help me train, Neechan."

* * *

Naruto shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Hey…Motoko-chan?"

The genin looked at Naruto, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "Yeah?"

"Do you think…we can maybe spar again tomorrow?" he asked.

Motoko blinked. "Naruto-kun, if you hadn't asked, I would have. I haven't had such a good time in ages!"

Naruto smiled at her; a pure, face-splitting grin of relief. "Great! I had a lot of fun too!"

Motoko grinned at him, a devilish little affair with pearly white fangs flashing. Walking forward, she reached out and patted Naruto on the cheek. "I could really fall for a guy like you, Naruto. You're fun."

Over at the side, Etna's Team Eight and the other two members of Flonne's Team Five looked on with varying levels of bemusement writ large across their faces. Flonne's eyes were shining at this proof that Motoko-chan had love in her heart.

Eventually, it was Priss who broke the tableau, asking Kasumi, "They do remember we're here, right?"

Kasumi just shook her head.

* * *

At that time, all three members of Konoha's Team Seven were coming to terms with the same basic desire, each in their own way.

_I want to be stronger._

Sakura sought training from her older sister, the chuunin Lily Haruno. Sasuke went to the only man in all of Konoha who could teach him how to use his Sharingan. Naruto didn't seek training; rather, he sought to continue a bond he had formed with his newest friend, Motoko of the Hidden Sky.

The stage was set. In three weeks, the chuunin exam would begin.

_To be continued…_

_Sakura: Sakura wanders through the jungle, seeking the rare and elusive Mushroom of Ultimate Flavor._

_Lily: Little sis? What the hell are you doing?_

_Laharl: You get used to it after a while._

_Sakura: Out of nowhere, a rival appears!_

_Lily: That does it. She's finally gone insane. I knew it had to happen eventually._

_Sakura: Can Sakura find the Mushroom and cook the famed Legendary Mushroom Soup before Ino the Rampaging Boar uses it for her Divine Salad?_

_Laharl: This is all Etna's fault. I know it is._

_Sakura: Next time on Beautiful Ninja Chef Sakura, Episode Three! The Pig That Loves Mushrooms!_

_Sakura: Mushrooms are good for you!_

_Lily: When they take you away to the loony bin, sis, I'm taking all your stuff._

Notes: Because this is in the Naruto section, I'm not going to assume all of my readers have played Disgaea. Prinnies are the souls of dead sinners, people who didn't quite earn a peaceful afterlife. Summoning up the God of Death to seal away a demon is pretty heavy-duty stuff, which is why the Fourth is now a Prinny. Each member of the Haruno family has hair colored like a flower of some kind, which is also their namesake. So Sakura's older sister has white hair, and is named Lily. Her younger sister has red hair, and is named Rose. Rose enters the Ninja Academy next year, and Lily has been a chuunin for the past year after three years of being a genin. The character classes of Flonne and Etna's teams, in case you couldn't guess or haven't played the game, are as follows:

Kasumi – Archer

Motoko – Ronin

Joutarou – Prism Skull

Priss – Female Warrior

Akane – Female Brawler

Elise – Star Mage

Akane and Elise are the two other members of Etna's team I didn't manage to name in the chapter. Akane is the pig-tailed one, Elise the one dressed like a mage. I plan to have this done in about five chapters, but it could surprise me.


	4. Chapter 3

**Naruto: Hour Of Darkness**

**Battle History In The Ninja World**

**Chapter Three: Of Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin**

Clover Haruno was a jounin. This meant, among other things, that his pay grade was several steps above a chuunin's. Therefore, he could afford to keep a fairly large backyard attached to his house, which he and his daughters used as a personal training ground. Some of Sakura's fondest memories were the elaborate traps she and her father had set up in this yard.

Somehow, she doubted that what was currently happening would _ever_ make her favorite memories list. That was the problem with Lily, Sakura reflected ruefully. She didn't believe in doing _anything_ half-assed.

Sakura flopped onto the ground, panting wearily. Lily had just run her through some exercises designed to measure her chakra capacity and followed it up with a brisk five minute spar.

Lily easily sat down beside her, and Sakura tried to work up the energy to glare at her. She wasn't even sweating, dammit!

"Well, little sister, you're definitely a Haruno," Lily said, gazing down at Sakura bemusedly. "Top marks for control, but no stamina."

"_You're_ not even breathing hard," Sakura pointed out sourly.

Lily shrugged affably. "Yeah, that's right. _Genin_."

Sakura winced at the reminder and reluctantly conceded the point.

* * *

"Laharl, are you sure this is okay?" Flonne asked.

The diminutive Overlord waved his hand dismissively. "The old man said there was no problem."

"That's not it, Laharl!" Flonne cried, shaking her head. "You left _Etna_ in charge of _my _students!"

Laharl contemplated this, then shrugged. "Eh. If they're dead when we get back, I'll buy you the third season of Justice Taskforce Prism Rangers."

Flonne's eyes widened happily before she caught herself and shook her head. Just as she was about to say something, Laharl carelessly added, "The special collector's edition."

Flonne positively _glowed_ with happiness. "Alright!" she cheered, throwing her arms around Laharl. "It's a deal!"

"Knock it off, you Love Freak!" exclaimed Laharl, struggling to escape from the fallen angel's embrace.

Looking closely, you could see that Laharl wasn't struggling too hard.

* * *

Orochimaru stared in shock. When Kabuto had passed on the information that something unusual had happened in Konoha, he hadn't dreamed of anything like _this_.

There was an entire _castle_ flying above Konoha.

"I really _must_ learn how to do that," said Orochimaru, licking his lips with a tongue that was just slightly too long. Reaching back, he tucked a loose flap of skin behind his ear and grimaced.

Really, this would be the _last_ time he used someone so overweight for one of his masks.

* * *

Etna, rather than deal with the stress of teaching six newbie demons the ropes, had declared that they had the day off to wander around town. Joutarou and Elise had taken her up on the offer, and had headed off to find a good book store. Motoko had hunted Naruto down and dragged him off for a tour of the town. Kasumi had decided to find a training ground for her marksmanship.

Priss and Akane were sparring in the forest.

Akane came down on Priss from above with a fist glowing with chakra, creating a small crater when the other girl somersaulted away. Priss landed on the ground, gripped her sword in two hands and raised it overhead, focusing her chakra.

"Blade Rush!" she called out, bringing the sword down as she made a chakra-assisted dash forward. Akane threw up her arms in a cross block in front of her face, protecting her face from the blade.

The edge of the blade sliced through Akane's suit, leaving a shallow slash extending from just below the right side of her chest to just above the left side of her hip. A quick flare of demonic red chakra cauterized the wound, stopping the bleeding and leaving an impressive scar.

Acting quickly, Akane rushed at Priss, who had completed her follow-through, and grabbed the back of the belt the other girl wore over her chest. Leaning forward, Akane whispered into Priss' ear the words, "Lion's Roar."

Priss barely had time to register the words before she felt herself being dragged upwards, her belt constricting painfully across her chest. A great light shone behind her, casting her silhouette across the ground in sharp relief.

Priss made a whimpering noise in the back of her throat. This was gonna _hurt_.

"**ACHOU!"**

Sometimes Priss reflected, it really sucked being right all the time.

* * *

Sasuke viewed the smoldering remains of the tree with a certain amount of quiet satisfaction. The technique he had badgered Kakashi-sensei into teaching him wasn't an actual combat technique like his Katon techniques; rather, it increased the effectiveness of such techniques in direct proportion to how much chakra he put into it.

Maybe he would've been able to get out of those ice mirrors if he had known this…Of course, freaking _Naruto_ broke through them without even any effort…

When did the dead last get so strong, anyway? And why the hell was he acting so damn _weak_? It was practically criminal not to use the strength you had available to you, and as far as Sasuke knew, that was exactly what Naruto was doing.

Sasuke shook his head. No use thinking about that now.

…Stupid dead last.

* * *

Ibiki Morino, Special Jounin, was sitting in a small café, quietly enjoying a cup of tea.

At least, that was his original plan.

"So, what's under the bandanna, scar-face?" inquired the red-haired girl, her tail waving back and forth lazily.

Ibiki very firmly repressed his desire to twitch.

* * *

"What's that place, Naruto-kun?" Mokoto asked, pointing at a nearby building.

The blonde ninja glanced over and dismissed the building from his notice. "Just some restaurant, that's all."

Naruto's motto when it came to food was 'If it's not ramen, it's CRAP!'. Naruto ate at the Ichiraku every chance he got, but other restaurants were so far beneath his notice they might as well not exist.

Motoko looked at the restaurant and came to a decision. As Naruto turned to walk off, she stretched out one arm and caught him by the collar of his loud orange jacket. Naruto managed to get out a strangled gasp before he was jerked to a halt, his arms wind milling furiously.

"I'm hungry," Motoko said. "Buy me lunch here."

"But-but-but I was gonna buy you ramen!" Naruto whined.

"I'm not gonna walk another step until I get some food," Motoko said, releasing Naruto and crossing her arms.

Naruto recognized the look in her eyes as being perilously close to the one Sakura used right before she was about to smack him one. With a resigned sigh, he escorted Motoko inside the restaurant.

Afterwards, upon further reflection, Naruto decided he liked teriyaki.

Still wasn't ramen, though.

* * *

Kasumi was standing in the middle of a ring of practice targets, facing towards one and slowly breathing through her nose, her eyes closed as she focused her chakra. Her blonde curls slowly swayed in a phantom wind. Snapping her eyes open, she was outlined in a smooth yellow glow. Drawing the bow up so her arrow was level with her eye, she carefully pulled back the bowstring. The yellow glow around her body flowed down her arms, through her hands, and started collecting around the head of the arrow.

"Poison Blast!"

Released from the bow, the arrow glowed brightly and split apart, turning into multiple streaks of pure chakra that each described a semi-circular arc before converging on the practice target with a soundless flare of light.

Viewing the results of the technique, Kasumi decided she was satisfied. The target had great holes in it that looked almost like something had melted the wooden bulls eye and straw beneath it. A sharp nod set her blonde curls swaying as she drew out a bundle of arrows, holding them loosely between her fingers.

Kasumi channeled chakra to her legs and _leapt_. At the height of her jump, some thirty or forty feet in the air, she spun her body so she was looking down and started firing.

When she landed, each of the remaining targets had a single arrow pierced directly through the bullseye.

* * *

Joutarou and Elise had actually managed to find a decent bookstore. Currently, they were comfortably sitting down, leafing through some cheap paperback novels. Because they were ninja, however, they had managed to turn even this into a training exercise.

The owner of the bookstore was fairly unnerved by the fact that the two ninja browsing his wares were _sitting on the actual walls_ while doing so, but they were quiet and respectful, so he pushed down his misgivings and basically ignored them.

Not looking up from his book, Joutarou addressed Elise, his voice faintly muffled by his ever-present mask. "Elise."

The orange-haired Star Mage made an inquisitive sound, also not tearing her attention from the novel she was reading.

"Hair band's slipping." Joutarou said.

Elise absently reached up and secured it.

No further sound was made.

To Be Continued… _

* * *

Sakura: Slipping out of the night, a pink shadow strikes!_

_Naruto: Ehh…What're you doing, Sakura-chan?_

_Sakura: Beautiful, stealthy, fabulous! Phantom Thief Sakura!_

_Naruto: Eeeeehhhh?_

_Etna: Quick, somebody get me a pen! I need to make some notes!_

_Sakura: Phantom Thief Sakura has set her sights on the fabulously expensive Mirror-Wheel Gem! Can she sneak through the security guarding it and make it hers?_

_Naruto: Eh…wha…huh? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!_

_Sakura: Nothing is safe from the legendary Phantom Thief! That gem will be mine!_

_Etna: Bravo! I'm impressed!_

_Naruto: I'm confused._

_Sakura: Next time, on Phantom Thief Sakura! Episode Four: The Mysterious Secret of The Mirror-Wheel Gem!_

_Sakura: I'll steal your heart!_


End file.
